In support of research programmes or upstream and downstream of registration, the Staphyt Phytopathology and Plant Nutrition Laboratory has all the equipment and know-how required to test, select and evaluate active substances and formulated conventional and organic products. Tests under controlled conditions are usually carried out prior to field trials and are complementary to them. With its extensive experience in crop protection and nutrition, the team can offer you standardised protocols or customised tests to help you characterise your products.

The laboratory based in France (Martillac, Bordeaux) offers more than 1,300 m2 of infrastructure and increased capacity for trials under controlled conditions (growth chambers), in temperature-controlled greenhouses and in tunnel greenhouses.

Our human resources and equipment at Martillac:

• Multi-disciplinary team of qualified experts,
• +700m² plant pathology and plant nutrition laboratory,
• 200m2 automated greenhouse for the production of plant material needed to carry out trials all year round,
• 300m2 automated greenhouse and tunnel dedicated to carrying out trials to evaluate bionutrition and biostimulation products,
• 5 growth chambers, 2 phytotrons and 4 climatic chambers for carrying out trials under controlled conditions,
• 2 spray booths for precise and uniform application of products and washout booms,
• Measuring equipment (SPAD, greenseeker….), analysis equipment (spectrophotometer; winrhizo) and observation equipment (microscopes, binocular magnifiers),
• A molecular biology platform equipped for nucleic acid extraction, PCR, qPCR, etc.

The laboratory’s activities are divided into a crop protection section and a nutrition/fertilisation section.

The crop protection section covers

• Evaluation of products used to control fungal crop pathogens or weeds (testing efficacy, evaluation of the rainfastness activity, determining mode of action, etc.).
• Monitoring the sensitivity of field pathogens or weeds to different active ingredients.

The nutrition/fertilisation section covers the evaluation of fertiliser products and biostimulant solutions.

In detail:

Protection

1. Evaluation of plant protection products

• Screening of active substances with in vitro, in vivo or in planta tests,
• Determination of the mode of action: preventive, curative, research into the molecular target, etc.
• Efficacy testing of conventional, biocontrol or SDP plant protection products against aerial or telluric crop pathogens,
• Demonstration of the activation of plant defence pathways by SDP-type products (molecular tools).

2. Monitoring the susceptibility of crop or weed pathogens to different active ingredients (resistance monitoring)

• In vitro, in vivo, in planta tests,
• Detection/quantification of mutations responsible for pathogen or weed resistance (molecular tools) to different active ingredients.

Evaluation of bionutrition/biostimulation products and plant growth regulators

• Determining the effectiveness of products in resisting abiotic stresses (water, salt, light, heat, etc.),
• Determining the efficacy of products for plant nutritional efficiency,
• Determination of the efficacy of products on seed germination ability and potential,
• Germination tests,
• Trials in planta, in a temperature-controlled greenhouse or tunnel greenhouse,
• Observation of morphological and physiological responses (leaf area, leaf and root biomass, height, yields, chlorophyll index, root architecture, etc.),
• Tests on the export of micronutrients (e.g. phosphorus) through the action of micro-organisms (bacteria, fungi, yeasts, etc.),
• Determination of macro-nutrients,
• Quantification of abiotic stress by biochemical assays,
• Ecotoxicity studies (Glomus test, AFNOR standard PrXP X 31-205-1).

To go further in characterising your products:

• Evaluate the rainfastness activity,
• Phytotoxicity study,
• Product physical and chemical compatibility tests (static and dynamic),
• Study of spray quality as a function of adjuvants (retention, spreading/coverage, penetration test),
• Monitoring the viability over time of the microorganisms that make up a product, depending on its formulation or the type of application.

Don’t hesitate to contact us for more information contact@staphyt.com